Lab Rats
by Cryokinesis
Summary: In which Yugi and Ryou are rescued from an experimental faculty and are thrust into a whole new life, a safe haven that turns out to be not so safe. Superpowers AU. Various pairings with the main being Yami/Yugi and mentioned Ryou/Bakura.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So I have another story I really should be working on right now, but instead I decided I wanted to start this little project. If you recognize bits and pieces of this story, congrats we share another fandom. That being said, I'm not going to sit here and say this is 100% my story because then I'd be lying, and no. So, yes. When I read this story, I loved it and I decided to convert it over to our lovely fandom! I know people do as much with books and I thought, why not? So only very, and by very I mean, VERY, partial credit to me, guys. But none-the-less, it's a great story and I hope you enjoy it as well when all is said and done. Updates will be on Fridays, since I've got my other story I'm trying to make do with.

Also, keep in mind that some of these characters will be completely, out of this world OC. Not all though. I guess it's just how you look at them, really. Don't be angry. :)

* * *

_Security breach, security breach._

Yugi's eyes snap open from where he's sitting, meditating. They flicker to the spot Ryou was sitting moments ago, now seemingly vacant. Yugi murmurs, "Are you still here?"

"Yeah," Ryou breathes, although Yugi appears alone in the room. Red lights flash in through the door, and the alarms are ringing loud, the constant mantra of _security breach_ rattling around the whole facility.

Footsteps clang above them, running, crashing, all absent of any voices. Yugi watches the corners of the room, alert and poised, wondering what's going on and what's going to happen now. The needle marks in his arms send a familiar ache down to his hand, and he flexes it unhappily.

With a quiet beep, the red letters next to the door change from CLOSED to a lime green OPEN. Yugi sits up straighter, their last form of protection gone. Ryou murmurs, "Do you want me to go check it out?"

"Stay put, and stay invisible," Yugi mumbles back, not entirely sure they're not being watched. This has never happened before, and the rushed canter of footsteps starting to coming closer only sends his panic into overdrive.

He quickly lifts his palm, casting a jet of freezing water over the door, and it solidifies into an ice barrier. He gets up from the floor, looking around the room, but it's bare; it's simply a meditation room. A phantom hand curls around his wrist, and Ryou hisses, "_look_!"

Through the foggy ice, two figures appear. Yugi whispers, frantically, "What's going on?"

"They're not the doctors," Ryou says. His hand is gone and his voice sounds further back, sneering on the _doctors_ part. "Do you think this is part of training?"

The ice starts to crack, and Yugi backs away as well. They can't be cracking the ice by pure force, and Ryou fists Yugi's shirt, pulls him back further, while cradling his waist protectively. A warm glow starts to appear in front of the foggy figures, like fire embers, and the cracked ice begins to melt, rather rapidly. Yugi watches in astonishment as the puddle slowly creeps around his feet, and Ryou says, "Let's see what they want before we act."

"If they're anything like the doctors, I say we get out of here."

"By any means?"

Yugi just nods, as the ice is reduced to half its size, and the figures start to come into focus.

"I'm going to the other side of the room," Ryou whispers quietly, "element of misdirection." Yugi can hear the smirk in Ryou's voice; a tactic they used to confuse the doctors back when they were younger.

He feels Ryou leave, and his heart beats faster, fingers twitching as he resists the urge to throw up another ice wall. The orange blaze on the other side of the door shows it would be futile. The doors slide open, wetly, and Yugi presses himself to the wall, preparing to fight dirty, if needed.

Two boys, barely in their late teens, stumble inside the door, appearing more panicked than Yugi himself. The one with multicolored black, red, and blonde messy hair and blown, red eyes looks at him straight and asks, "Are you okay? Can you run?"

Yugi stares wordlessly and the other man starts looking around the room, asking, "Where's the other? He's in here, I can feel it." A meditation mat lifts itself into the air, and quickly starts circling the room, whirling past Yugi to catch in midair, where it's collided with Ryou.

The other man -having planned that – reaches out and grasps at the empty space. In a second, Ryou's visible again and shouting, "What do you want?"

The other man says, seriously, "We're Bakura and Yami, and we're here to rescue you."

The boy with the hair that surprinsingly matched Yugi's own and a smooth, baritone voice –Yami – nods vehemently, and Ryou struggles to get his arm back from the man called Bakura, but Bakura seems to anticipate that Ryou will disappear when he does. A loud bang overhead makes Yami flinch, and he says to Bakura, "We have to leave _now_."

"Why should we go with you?" Yugi argues, and sparks rain from the electric door frame.

"Do you want to be experimented on?" Yami shouts over the grinding noise, determination written all over his face; Yugi stares at him, unable to think of a response.

Bakura pulls Ryou towards the door, and Ryou stops struggling, so Yugi resigns himself to follow, with Yami behind him, keeping them in a line. As they hurry down the hallway, Bakura throws his arms apart; the large door trapping them in pries open. It's obvious to Yugi that Bakura's a talented telekinesis, and meeting someone other than Ryou with powers; well, it's a little mind jarring.

As they run through the foyer, where the reception desk is on fire and smoke's filling up to the ceiling, Yugi trips on some of the debris. He's caught by burning warm hands, steadied to his feet, and he looks at Yami in surprise, while Yami just looks back with an indiscernible expression.

"Your hands. They're burning."

"And you're freezing," Yami adds, pushing him further. "Watch your step."

A fire handler. Yugi's mind spins as he tries to keep up, unable to force the questions out of his mouth as he concentrates on keeping close to Ryou. An intense sting hits the inside of his elbow again, needle pricks flaring up. The chaos around him makes him wonder why he had no warning; could all of this have happened so quickly? Wasn't there something that could have tipped him off?

Bakura thrusts his arms open again, but the main front doors only groan, the metal slowly warping in the middle, the large printed _S-CORP_ twisting in to be unreadable, but not enough to allow them through.

"Bakura," Yami calls, insistent.

"I'm trying!," Bakura hisses a shout back.

Yugi looks at Yami, and says disbelievingly, "What are you people _doing_?"

"We already told you, rescuing you," Yami tells him, steadfastly.

"But why?"

The boy, unexpectedly, grins. "Because we never leave a man behind."

The door finally permits enough space for them to push through, and they get through at the same time a bullet lodges itself into the door, inches from Yami's head.

Outside, there's a crowd. Before Yugi can get a proper look, however, a woman with curling blonde hair and a humongous chest pulls him into her arms and whispers, "This might hurt."

* * *

Teleporting isn't what Yugi expected, although that would suggest he's thought about it. He has not.

It does hurt, but in an aching way, like his muscles are being stretched tight, past their limit. His insides feel like they've somersaulted, leaving him nauseated and gagging when they finally come to a standstill. He stumbles away, bile rising up in his throat, and someone grabs his shoulder to stop him from falling. The room is brightly lit, although shapes seem to blur together.

A girl crouches down, her dark brown hair cropped to frame her face, and she says, "Are you okay?"

People keep asking him that. Her image doubles and blends back to one.

A moment later two pairs of feet appear in front of him again, and Ryou's knees nearly buckle as he tries not to sway. The girl disappears again, Ryou's tumbling sideways to Yugi, and the brunette looks up at someone Yugi hasn't seen, asking, "How many trips is Mai making?"

"They're coming back in the trucks, but Yami and Bakura need to be here," a male voice says.

Yugi tries to straighten up, and Ryou sags heavily into him.

"Okay," Ryou says, as Mai reappears, Bakura under one arm, Yami in the other. "Someone has to tell us what the hell is going on." His hair is messy and his deep brown eyes are characteristically bright.

Yugi nods, helplessly, and the other five people in the room look serious; Yugi feels like he's behind glass, and they're all just observing. The mystery male voice belongs to a tall man, who wears a hood pulled as far as it will go over his head and calculating, yet worn eyes. His hair is exaggeratedly pointed, with the lower half a light brown while the top a darker shade. A hand rests on his chin.

The girl with cropped hair rises from the crouching position, and her face is pretty and delicate, with a voice to match. "I'm Tèa. We're the good guys." She manages a meek smile.

"How did you know about us?" Yugi asks quietly, confused. Ryou's pressed in close, as if cornered.

"We keep track," Bakura voices, wiping away a small hint of blood from the shallow cut on his chin. "The people that kept you are part of a large organization that spreads over half the world."

Yami nods from beside him, wiping soot on his pants. "We're notified of how many kids are in each base."

Ryou gives them a bland look as he says, "We were there for eleven years. You acted now?"

Yugi touches Ryou's side, his icy touch a warning. They don't usually talk about this, about the before and after. Life before the S-CORP, and life in the S-CORP. It's easier not to. Emotions can make life a lot harder.

The man with the hood grimaces. He makes a temple with both hands, and says, "We work as quickly as we can with the limited resources we have. The CIA has been working on shutting down the organization for years, but with all the secrecy..." The man trails off, having a hard time keeping his gaze from the wall.

"That's Tristan, by the way," Tèa tells them. "He's an agent for the CIA, and he's done a lot for us."

"We know you probably have a lot of questions," Bakura tells them, earnestly, voice rough "and we'll answer them, but tonight- tonight isn't such a good time. I think we all need time to recoup."

Bakura's face has a worn look, and his moonlight gray hair is peppered with dirt. His shoulders are broad and his shirt doesn't hide the thick muscles wrapped around his arms, and Yugi prematurely recognizes him as a leader. Yami, next to him, looks young and small in comparison, but his eyes are sharp and he holds himself with confidence making Yugi wonder if maybe height and excessive bulk aren't deciding factors. His lips are in a tight line, his red tongue darting across them nervously.

"I'll show you to your room," says Mai, and her motherly voice soothes the rawest of Yugi's nerves. She doesn't touch them, but leads the way, and Yugi follows aimlessly, unsure of what other choice he has. As they leave the room, the other four form a circle, blocking them out before the door closes.

* * *

Mai is kind and peaceful - although Yugi can sense a type of undermining spunk in her personality somewhere - but she smiles at them comfortingly as she shows them their room. A simple room with two beds, a large window, wardrobes. Worlds different to the small, sterile white and bare rooms Yugi's used to.

Mai smiles down at them –taller than them both – and says, "Are you hungry or thirsty? I could get you something."

Ryou smiles at her sheepishly, the kind of smile Yugi hasn't seen for what feels like years. "No, we're fine."

She nods, telling them, "The kitchen is downstairs, if you change your mind. Otherwise, I'll see you at breakfast in the morning."

They nod at her, and it's only just as she's closing the door Yugi remembers to say, "Thank you."

She pauses, turning to look at him and say, "You're welcome." Her smile is one Yugi won't soon forget.  
When she shuts the door, the light above them flickers momentarily, and Yugi glances up. He grasps the inside of his elbow, unable to scratch the itch, and Ryou sits down gingerly, on the edge of his bed. The whole feeling is surreal and unfocused, and for a moment, Yugi's thought patterns stutter.

Then Ryou laughs.

"We're free?"

Yugi's lips quirk. "Don't get too excited yet."

Yugi keeps a smile on his lips though, and Ryou beckons him closer. When in reach, Ryou rolls up Yugi's sleeve, and scrunches his face a little. "Maybe you can get them to look at that tomorrow."

The needle marks are inflamed, some a deep, blossoming red, others a plum purple, running like a rash along the underside of his elbow. Ryou doesn't have any, only a few white scars where they took blood, almost unnoticeable. Why they hadn't subjected Ryou to the same things, Yugi doesn't know; he's not a scientist. It's a question he doesn't like to think about.

Yugi nods, pulling down his sleeve again. The clock on the bedside table reads that it's getting close to midnight. Ryou's already pulling off his blank, cream shirt that they always wore in the S-CORP, and getting under the warm covers. Yugi sits down and plays with the corner of his sheets, toying with the idea of sleeping, or asking Ryou to stay up and help him figure this out.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Ryou tells him quietly, knowing Yugi well enough to read his expression.

Yugi copies Ryou, pulling off the shirt and getting under his sheets, and their eyes meet across the room; their beds are barely six feet apart. Ryou gives him a brief smile, and Yugi half smiles back, closing his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, so I lied. My update days are now on Mondays and Thursdays, because this story has a lot of ground to cover and I'm still not completely sure how I'm going to split it all up. But I do know I don't want to give it to you guys all in one go. Duh. But yes, a lot of ground to cover. And I'd rather this story NOT drag out for half a year or anything like that. So yes, two updates a week. Hope that makes some of you happy!

And also, I forgot about the disclaimer in the first chapter so here it is. Rated T, for some frowned upon words and whatever. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor will I ever.

Lastly, Marik = hikari Malik in this story. Okay, I'm done! Read on.

* * *

When Yugi wakes, he hears chatter. Happy chatter. Across the room Ryou's bed sheet is curved around an invisible shape, rising and falling with Ryou's breathing. Ryou has no control over his power once he falls asleep, which he hates, and he flickers in and out of sight. Yugi shuts his eyes for a moment, concentrating on sending his headache to the back of his mind, before forcing himself out of bed. There's a pile of clothes sitting at the foot of his bed, with a small note reading, _hope these fit. _

Yugi stares at the pile for a moment, before nimbly picking it up and putting it on his bed. He lifts the folded shirt, shaking it out. It's a normal blue shirt, with short sleeves and low neckline, and when he pulls it on, it shows his collarbone, but hangs a good ways past his waist. There's new, folded underwear, and a pair of jeans. The jeans are loose, even though they're a small men's size, but they don't fall down by much, so Yugi figures it was a good guess, other than the fact they bunched a decent amount around his ankles. He leaves his old clothes on his bed in a haphazardly folded heap and slips on the oversized shoes, and glances back to Ryou's bed on his way out; the breathing is still slow and rhythmic.

His feet pad down the hallway, and he looks down the steps, torn between walking down them or running back to his room. Slowly, the stairs creak as he lets his weight press into them. His nervousness causes little ice particles to form on the banister, solidifying against the wood and around his hand. The chatter is getting louder, and as his feet push off the last step, he feels the pleasant happiness trickling out from the kitchen door. He takes a breath, and walks in, unnoticed and quiet.

Yami's laughing a deep, velvety laugh, eyes sparkling and lips parted to reveal brilliant white teeth, his hand under a pan that seems to hover just barely above his palm. Mai's rolling her eyes, telling him something else as she flips the sizzling eggs in the pan. Bakura has one hand reached out towards Yami and the pan, but his eyes and other hand are on a floating jug of juice, as it fills the glasses lined up on the bench.

Tèa and two men Yugi hasn't met sit at the table, arranging plates and cutlery while trying to keep the table cloth from crinkling. Both men are taller than her, incredibly taller than Yugi himself; one with a wicked smirk and the other – an angelic smile.

Tèa places napkins in the middle of the table and a gust of wind send them fluttering into the air. She frowns at the smirking one, scolding, "Joey."

Something bumps into Yugi's back, and he stumbles forward; he feels Ryou's hands on his waist, and even when he's invisible, Ryou still hides behind him. Yugi resists rolling his eyes, and it's times like this he remembers he's the older one. Jumping forward garnered him more attention, though, and Yami says, "Hey, you're awake."

The two men at the table look up in interest at the new guest, and Tèa says, "Hey, Yugi, come sit down."

Bakura, not turning from the three knives he has buttering the toast, adds, "And Ryou too."

Ryou sparks into sight, guiltily, still grasping Yugi's shirt as he asks, "How did you know?"

Bakura turns his head a little, and smiles. "I could sense your energy."

"Don't be afraid, Hun," Mai tells Ryou, smiling encouragingly, "you don't have to hide here."

Ryou acts as if she reprimanded him, lowering his head. A breeze ruffles his hair, and the man called Joey says softly, "Cheer up, dude."

"We can't be any worse than the shithole we found you in," the other man says, grinning. "I'm Marik, by the way."

"Joey," Joey introduces hurriedly as well, although Yugi already caught his name.

They say their own names even though it's unnecessary, since it appears the men already know who they are. Tèa pulls out seats for them and Mai asks them how they like their eggs. Once seated together, with Joey to Yugi's left and Bakura to Ryou's right, the talk dies down a little in favor of the guests.

"So how did you sleep?" Mai asks, lifting her toast to her mouth.

"Great," Yugi answers, chewing on the inside of his cheek for lack of words. When he places the egg into his mouth, it goes cold, like all hot foods do and there's condensation on his metal fork. Two glasses drift through the air, coming to sit in front of Bakura and Yami, while Joey flicks his fingers over his coffee, blowing the steam away. There's a screech from a parrot outside, loud and ringing.

"Cassie says Tristan's coming," Tèa translates, and Yugi watches her. She notices, and explains, "I understand animals."

"Which is good when Marik decides he wants to be a snake for hours on end," Bakura replies, and Yami snickers.

"They're jealous because they don't have cool shape shifting abilities," Marik tells Ryou and Yugi, smugly.

The front door slams loudly, and Ryou briefly flickers out of panic, a blush rising on his cheeks when he realizes. Ryou's not used to the sound of manual doors. Yami chortles, and Tristan enters the kitchen, whipping off his hood, which seems to be an actual part of his everyday wardrobe Yugi notices, and running a hand through his hair.

"Morning all," he murmurs, heading for the coffee pot.

There's a few merry greetings, and it's Tèa's voice that ask, "You're up a little early, aren't you?"

He smiles down at his mug, pouring in the steaming liquid. "I figured I should be here for the Q&A."

"Ah, yeah," Yami says, pulling out a chair for Tristan and fixing his eyes on Yugi and Ryou. "Fire away."

"Let them eat first," Mai clicks, fussily.

Bakura snorts into his juice, and Tristan rolls his eyes as he sits down.

"First off, just for clarification," Tristan says, already getting into his role, "Ryou, you have the power of invisibility, and Yugi, you're an ice conjurer?"

They both nod, and Yugi asks intently, "How did you know that?"

"We've got the whole organization's records," Bakura tells them. "We know everyone that's in the system, and their abilities."

"How many more are there?" Bakura asks, beguiled.

"At least a dozen," Tristan answers. "It's a very rare condition of human evolution; that's why we didn't notice the organization for so long, because they've kept it very small and quiet, never housing too many together."

"Bakura and I came from the same one," Yami adds, for their benefit, "Marik and Tèa were together as well, in a facility not far from ours."

"Mai was never in S-CORP at all," Joey tells them, sipping his coffee, "and I was taken out only a week after I was taken."

"Yeah, Mai started this whole safe haven for kids who had nowhere to go after the rescue," Tristan says, and Mai ducks her head. "And Joey was the first."

"So last night was...what, a take over?" Ryou says, slowly.

"We didn't mean to wreck everything," Tristan says, grimacing, "we were just supposed to get you two out, but Yami and Bakura don't know how to do things _calmly_ and _quietly._"

"I panicked," Yami defends.

"You set half the place on fire," Tristan chides back.

It lulls into a quiet moment, and Yami looks properly ashamed, while the others grimly remember the chaos from the night before. There's a quiet chink of cutlery on plates, and Yugi gives up on his cold and slightly soggy toast. He's not used to warm foods, at all.

"So you just run around... burning up buildings," Yugi notes, taking the glass of juice that's been set in from of him.

"Not at all," Tristan rebuffs, easily.

"We're just one part of the population," Bakura tells him, "and we're set on... well, rescuing. It's our area. The CIA passed it on to us, since it goes smoother this way." Yugi thinks that's ironic, because if that was smooth, the CIA must have botched up bad.

Joey moves his arm, and his elbow knocks into his steaming mug, causing the whole thing to topple. Boiling coffee falls towards his lap. Yugi, acting on reflex, reaches out to catch it; the coffee pours over his hands and with a hiss, it passes through his fingers and over Joey's thighs; Joey yelps.

"Are you burnt?" Mai asks immediately, and a few people rise from their seats.

"No, it's _cold_," Joey complains, and Yugi's hands are unmarked.

Mai gasps a second time and says, "Yugi, your _arm_."

The needle marks are a little worse this morning; they sometimes fade into the evening, but the purple and red look vivid, and there's even a hint of green bruising. He makes to quickly retract his arm, but Mai catches his wrist and stretches his arm out. Her hand goes white from the cold but she keeps examining, and Tristan stands up to get a better look. His secrets for all to see.

"I think you should take it from here, Bakura," Tristan says, subtly, seriously. Bakura nods, stiffly, and Yami keeps staring at Yugi's arm with a look of deep concentration and concern.

"Later," Bakura says, and Tristan sits back down, "I think we need a good breakfast."

* * *

After breakfast, Yugi tries to help carry the plates to the sink, but Bakura sends them hovering away, watching Yugi carefully, as if worried he's going to sprint off.

"Can we go for a walk?" Bakura asks, and Yugi nods, slowly.

Bakura leads him out to the backyard, and Yugi tastes the fresh air on his tongue. A rarity, in his life, it seems. The land surrounding the old house seems to stretch on, bumpy and concealed by trees after a point, but beautiful all the same, causing Yugi's breath to catch. Bakura beckons him down a stoned path, and Yugi follows, letting the sunlight bathe his face. He can hear the birds in the trees, something he hasn't heard for a long time.

"What did they do to your arm?" Bakura has his hands in his pockets, glancing at Yugi from the corner of his eyes, casually.

Yugi self-consciously rubs the spot in question, and answers, "Needles. You know. That sort of thing."

"They injected you?"

Yugi nods, uncomfortable. Bakura lets out a slow breath, and Yugi feels like he said the wrong thing.

"We think they were trying to change your DNA. It's a relatively new theory of theirs." Bakura kicks a stone down the path. "Have you ever heard of artificial selection?" Yugi shakes his head, and Bakura continues, steadily. "They do it in plants all the time; take certain genes to make the plants stronger, tastier, more fruitful. They mutate the chromosomes, creating a newer, better, version. Did they take your blood?"

"Mine and Ryou's, frequently," Yugi replies; grass has grown out of the stone path, and it crushes under Yugi's feet.

"They would have experimented on that to see what 'special' gene you had; why you were able to do what you do. See, that's the only reason you're different; a mutated gene. Nothing too scary." He smiles, briefly, but Yugi doesn't match it. "We think they injected you to test their theories; they must have had a complex one, judging by the number you have. Tristan – well, the government really – thinks they want to create a new race of people."

Yugi stops under a large tree, shadow falling over him, and Bakura stops as well, giving Yugi a soft sort of look.

"You get headaches, don't you?" Bakura asks, and Yugi's eyes widen a little.

"How do you know so much about this?" Yugi's eyes flicker to Bakura's inner elbows, but they're blemish free.

Bakura makes a face, and folds his legs underneath himself, sitting in the cool grass. Yugi mimics him, plucking a dark blade of grass as Bakura says, "I'm going to tell you a story."

Yugi waits, and Bakura weighs his words.

"There was this man and woman, both working for S-CORP, and part of the research team on figuring out about the genes, how they're created and make us do what we do, and safe placement in human subjects. They were quite... taken with their work, and wondered if they could make the most advanced child. Most humans only use a small portion of their brain, but it's been proven that people with special abilities have a certain gene to let them unlock more area and brain matter in times of struggle, and to fully operate their... unique ability. They experimented and warped the DNA of an embryo to what they thought was a fool proof plan."

"The woman became unwell in the last few days of pregnancy. Being scientists, both of them wanted to see their experiment finished; their perfect child. The woman did not survive childbirth. The man was distraught, and handed his 'perfect child' over for observation and a childhood of blank rooms and endless tests."

Bakura frowns, scratching his stubble. "I never really forgave him. I was not as perfect as he'd hoped. I suppose it's mutual dislike. I was an angry child, who turned into an angry teenager. The person you see now was nothing like how I used to be." Bakura looks away, back towards the house, but makes no move to get up. "You see, natural selection takes generations, and only the fittest survive. Me? My 'special' genes? Would not survive. The side affects of brain swelling and headaches prove that humans aren't supposed to survive in this manner." Bakura directs his speech to Yugi. "Your headaches show they've altered your DNA. Not dramatically so, I would guess, but I can't be sure."

Yugi stares at him, and Bakura seems surprised. "What?" Bakura asks.

"You're not... your parents did that to you?"

"They're not my parents," Bakura dismisses harshly, but then with a sad smile. "I don't have parents. I'm just an experiment. I'm not like the rest of you; you have random mutations thrown in by nature, I am genetically engineered."

Yugi bites his lip, and looks over the canopy of leaves and branches hanging over them, shading them. He says, "You say they altered my DNA."

"Yes. Whether it was effective or not..."

"Why not Ryou?" It's a question that's been nagging in the corner of his mind, part childish resentment, part curiosity.

"I would guess," Bakura says, slowly, purposely, "either they were testing it on only one, first, or... they couldn't find Ryou's gene. It would make sense, given his skill is made for evasion."

Yugi nods, dumbly, and rips a few more strands of grass from the ground. He had forgotten the feel of it between his fingertips, and relishes privately in the nostalgia. He remembers a tutor at S-CORP that would teach him, and whenever they talked about plants or the outside, Yugi would beg to go outside, but they wouldn't let him. Told him it was dangerous.

"You said they're trying to create a new race," Yugi says, staring out over the mowed lawn leading to the back veranda of the house. "Why?"

Bakura leans back of his elbows, his legs spreading out; sunshine filters through to hit his face is spatters. "We're not certain. It's just a theory, but it works out. Imagine a whole race of gifted people? Who could hope to compete?"

"Is that why you take us? To stop them from taking the gene?"

Bakura frowns deeply at this, perturbed. "We _rescue_ them because that's no way to live, and we know that. They get treated like lab rats," Bakura spits out, "and I'll be damned if I'm just going to stand by. We have these abilities, and the least we can do is use them to protect our own."

Yugi sits quietly, clenching his own wrist. "Thank you," he says softly.

Bakura deflates into the grass, sighing.

"You're welcome." And for the remainder of their time outside, they observe the beauty of nature in undisturbed silence.

* * *

A/N: Bakura sure is out of character, eh? I'd like to think he was the crazy, psychotic Bakura we know and love before him and Yami were rescued. Other than Ryou and maybe a few others, throughout this story you're going to find that many characters, especially Yami, are going to be the complete opposite of their canon personalities. Just please keep in mind that it's because of, mostly, the circumstances in the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you guys on Thursday.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Next week is a school break and I'll be spending it camping, so I can't promise what days I'll update or if I will even be able to. I'll try my best. As a present, an early chapter :)

* * *

They sit in silence for a little longer, Bakura every now and then asking gentle questions and Yugi answering curtly, before Bakura goes back to the house to find Tristan, and discuss the new developments with him. Yugi opts to stay outside and explore the grounds, eager to exercise his new freedom.

The mowed lawn doesn't go for very long; enough to surround the house in a reasonable amount, enough to run around, but the further he ventures away from the stone path, the more uncultivated the grounds become, twisted with tree roots and green grass turning darker and longer, more identifiable as weeds. He trudges through it, carefully, making sure not to venture into any dark places, holed in by vegetation.

Instead he walks where the trees are spaced far apart, their canopy of leaves letting sunlight though, kicking stones here and there. The birds above him are dancing from branch to branch, clicking at him with watchful eyes, and he continues to walk around the forest area, taking in every shade of color. It's like his books coming to life.

Eleven years. Has it really been so long? Yugi has memories as a child, of running rampant in fields and building castles out of mud, but even those memories seem bland and in sepia, after so long of cream and white walls, white clothes, white carpets. Never any dirt on the floor, always impeccably clean.

He remembers when he first met Ryou in the S-CORP, and the color of Ryou's eyes shockingly reminding him of milk chocolate. He was barely seven years old. He was just a child; he had no idea why his world was changing, or what they wanted from him. He couldn't understand why he was so much colder, why they wanted to keep him trapped, away from everyone else.

A sudden noise startles him from his musings, and he unthinkingly flails his hand, jetting cold water in the general location of the sound.

"Oh," he says, stunned. A small squirrel stands upright in the ground, frozen still in a thin layer of ice, and the smothering feeling of guilt trickles in.

"That wasn't very nice," says a deep voice, amused, and Yugi's head snaps up. A crease appears between Yami's eyebrows as he approaches, and he gingerly sets down the two sacks he was carrying, and kneels on the ground. "You froze the little guy." Yami's hands wrap around the small creature, and the ice melts, causing water to spill over his fingers until the squirrel is struggling and squeaking in his hands. Yami chuckles and releases it, letting it bolt off into the woods away from them.

Yami stands slowly, wiping dirt from his knees. Yugi eyes the brown bags, but Yami doesn't pick them up again; instead he smiles at Yugi, tilting his head. Yugi bites the inside of his cheek, looking down at the ground, feeling the silence start to bear down on him. Yami takes a few steps closer.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Fine," Yugi answers, clipped.

Yami touches his arm and Yugi yanks it away, whether out of instinct or because of the sharp, hot sensation, he's not sure. Yami quickly lifts both of his hands in a surrendering gesture, and says, "I'm not going to hurt you, Yugi."

"I know that," Yugi brushes off with a hint of irritation, embarrassed. He doesn't need this new group of people to regard him as vulnerable.

"Not trying to escape, are you?" There's a joking grin on his face as he says it, and he hauls one of the sacks over his shoulder. Yugi crosses his arms tightly and merely shrugs. Yami's expression softens slightly. "Come on, I'm heading back to the manor now. I could use some help carrying these back."

He holds out the other sack, and Yugi watches him for a few long, dragging moments, before timidly reaching out and grasping it. It's heavy in his hand, and he lifts it higher, cradling it in his arms; it's sharp and edgy, strange objects making pointed shapes in the lining, and Yugi would guess it's wood.

Yami smiles, setting off in the direction Yugi had come, and slowly, Yugi follows.

The next five minutes are filled with only Yami's half hearted humming, an eerie tune, and the crunch of their feet as they step over sticks and dry weeds. The sun is at a softer angle now, behind him and giving the earth around him a pure, clean look, instead of a decidedly yellow glow. Yugi makes sure to be alert for anymore scurrying creatures, so he won't be caught unaware.

It's rather daunting; to know when he freezes something, there's little he can do to undo it. His temperature is too cold to melt it properly, and it's not as if Yami's going to be strolling along everyday. Yugi doesn't like knowing he could accidentally kill little animals like that; he actually kind of likes them.

"I was fifteen when Bakura and I were rescued," Yami starts, seemingly out of nowhere, his voice changing to a happy tone, in deep contrast to what he had been humming moments ago. "Nearly set this whole forest on fire a few times, when I arrived. Bakura was nineteen, so he had a better grip, you know? I'm pretty sure Tristan wanted to make me wear a flame-retardant suit and oven mitts, but Bakura convinced him otherwise."

Yami jumps over a bundle of rocks, the sack lifting with momentum and slamming into his back, but if it hurt him, he doesn't show it. He turns his head a little, grinning, and says, "You're a quiet one, aren't you?"

Yugi bristles at this; the boy can't possibly be older than him, and yet his teasing manner flows freely from one sentence to the next. Yugi says, "I only talk when it means something." He lets the subtle insinuation of his words rest, and Yami slows to walk in step with him, lifting an eyebrow.

"Cold on the inside as well, eh?"

Yugi drops the sack to the ground, and wood scatters out from it. He glares and snaps, "Carry it yourself."

As he stalks off, he hears Yami calling out that he was just kidding, but Yugi keeps walking, each stomp leaving frozen drops of ice over the grass.

* * *

A headache throbs behind Yugi's eyes, and he leans his head back on the couch, closing them. The living room is empty and quiet, because the house – or manor as they call it – is exceedingly large and most of the rooms are unoccupied at one time or another. Yugi's caught sight of others, some as young as even 7, around the house, but decided to avoid them for the meanwhile.

Gentle fingertips probe at his temples, and Yugi's eyelids flick open, but above him is only empty space. "Ry?" he says.

Ryou appears above him, brown eyes watching expectantly. His fingers massage more deeply, and he says, "You've been hiding."

Yugi rolls his eyes at the irony, and Ryou allows himself a wry smile.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Ryou murmurs, "Not being in our rooms anymore."

Yugi nods, and then winces. Ryou strokes his fingers down the sides of his forehead, and says, "You should ask Bakura about something to help with your headaches."

Yugi groans.

"Don't tell me you dislike them already," Ryou says, disbelieving and disappointed.

"No, it's not that," Yugi says, grudgingly. Ryou moves around him to sit next to him on the couch, tugging his legs up close to curl on the cushion.

"Then what?"

Yugi closes his eyes again, knowing Ryou's close, and tries to relax his thoughts a little. "You don't think I'm... cold, do you?" The living room has a scent of lavender all around it.

There's a pause. "You mean, literally or-"

"Never mind," Yugi cuts him off.

Ryou makes an affronted noise, and Yugi imagines he's about to defend himself if not for another voice coming from the doorway.

"So there you boys are." Mai tucks her hair behind her ear, smiling so persistently. "Want to help make dinner? The others have all gone out, and I could use an extra set of hands."

Yugi stands up quickly, casting her a polite smile. "Sure." All his best habits seem to come into play when she's around.

Ryou agrees, giving Yugi a slightly calculating look, before following Mai from the room. He murmurs, almost inaudibly, "Nice to see your bad moods are selective."

Yugi pinches Ryou's side, and Ryou laughs.

* * *

There's an undetermined amount of people that live in the house. Mai says older members tend to disappear and return, so there's never an exact amount, unless there's an important meeting that requires them all, which rarely ever happens.

Yugi's introduced to some of the younger children, although he doesn't grasp all their names, except for the one instance that caught in his mind - the three fourteen year old boys named Alex. Other than that, he tries to smile and avoid times when he needs to address them by name.

It's a curious sight to see all the younger ones together, completely unabashed in their unruly control of power. Two boys competing in the middle of the room, one racing around the other with inhuman speed, while the other places his hand on the floor, turning it into to a mud-like consistency, catching the other's feet and causing him to slow. A blonde girl levitates high above them, out of the ruckus.

"Mark!" Mai scolds, "You turn the floor back to how it was this instant. And Jamie, you're ruining the floorboards."

The boys whine a little but they restore the peace, and a girl from the other side of the room asks, "Is dinner ready?" They're all still animated and hungry from their outdoor trip, and Mai can't seem to help the smile that comes to her face.

"When everyone comes back inside," Mai tells her, and Yugi moves back to the kitchen, where Ryou's setting out plates for the older ones; the children usually eat in the living room, since it avoids protests of having to leave their board game or television show.

"I didn't know how many plates to put, so I just filled the table," Ryou says, moving to stand beside Yugi and admire his work. Yugi puts his head on Ryou's shoulder, and they stand in silence.

Outside the older ones are playing a game of soccer, and Yugi feels a different sense of isolation; He pushes away after a few moments, smiling briefly, and checking the pot on the stove. He doesn't know anything about cooking, but Mai tells him things turning black are bad. Yugi's dinner is different; mostly a salad, with off-cuts of cold chicken. Mai had been more observant and analytical than he thought, knowing which foods were undesirable when cold. He hadn't needed to say anything.

Mai comes into the kitchen, nodding her head, and saying, "Good job Ry, it looks great."

Her casual use of the nickname sounds natural, and Ryou's smiling in that sheepish way again. Yugi can hear the front door open, and the chatter that hangs around like a fog comes back into the house, echoing off the walls. When they come in, they're dirty and grinning; Tèa's dark hair has leaves entangled in it, and even Joey looks run down, with grass stains on his shirt.

"Hey," Bakura says warmly to Ryou and Yugi, wiping away some of the dirt on his cheek. "You guys should come join us next time."

Yami's by his side, smiling encouragingly at them both, and Yugi gives him a flat, blank stare. Ryou steps on Yugi's foot, and says, "Sure," to Bakura. A German shepherd speeds past them, tail swishing in all directions.

"Marik," Tèa sighs, "you're not eating like that."

The German shepherd leaps up, and Marik's feet hit the ground in a smooth transition, while Mai eyes him with distaste.

"Wash those hands now you've been walking on them," Mai clicks, smacking his hands away from the plates.

"I was going to," Marik defends, and Tèa snorts at that. The kitchen feels crowded now as everyone lines up to wash their hands and Ryou helps Mai carry everything to the table. Yugi feels awkward, still in the middle of the room, and he watches a small boy run through the wall and snatch a piece of fruit from the table, and run back, completely unseen by the others. Yugi touches the wall; it's solid.

"Yugi, aren't you hungry?" Mai asks, closer than he thought, and he turns quickly.

"Sorry," he says, disoriented.

His first day out of the S-CORP and he already feels like he's drowning, wanting nothing more than to escape to his and Ryou's room for the rest of the night. He makes an excuse of not feeling well, and Mai lets him go.

* * *

The room's different to how he left it in the morning. Over each bed is a handmade quilt, with different patches but the same left corner which has _family_ embroidered on it. Another pile rests at the foot of their beds, this time odd assortments of clothes, obviously worn before, with holes in the hems and worn seams. They all smell the same, almost like the flowers and grass from this morning.

Yugi's tutor had taught him about washing machines and the evolution of domestic machinery. He wonders if he'll see one while he's here.

He sits in the middle of the room on the floor boards and they grow colder beneath him. He closes his eyes and tries to mediate, to calm the niggling ache in the back of his mind, but he finds himself restless, unable to clear his mind. He extends his palm, and slowly makes a thin ice barrier in front of himself, and continues until he's surrounded by a 360 degree ice wall. The cold air around him sets his nerves at ease, and the superficial protection gives him slight peace of mind.

He dreamt of S-CORP the night before. He always dreams of S-CORP; he doesn't have many other experiences to contemplate over. Last night had been different, though. The facility was how it was when they were being rescued; on fire and falling apart. Dr. Gozoburo was chasing after them, in his bulky, temperature resistant suit. In the dream, Ryou was missing and Yugi didn't know if he was conscious or visible, and afraid that he was neither.

In some ways, Yugi wished Yami had burnt the place to the ground. Such a destructive power. In other ways, Yugi wishes he was still there. Yugi isn't sure he wants to be out in the real world; it's complicated; noisy; uncertain. He used to read about society and etiquette and the family unit in all the books they gave him, but he's left unbalanced in this new world. Yami had called him cold, not just literally, actually cold hearted. The man who first injected Yugi called him emotionless after Yugi gave his fingers frostbite, and they had to be amputated. He just didn't see the injustice as the scientist did.

He sucks in air, and it chills his lungs. He sets his hands on his crossed legs, and imagines nothing. Nothing but fog, a cold blanket covering his vision. All aches fade, and he feels the sweet lull.

"Yugi?"

Damn it.

Yugi lets his eyes open a bit, and the figure is blurred by ice, but Yugi knows that it's Yami. He closes his eyes again, and tries to count backwards. He just wants to be alone. He hears the footsteps come closer, and he frowns in irritation. Opening his eyes again, he sees an unfocused version of Yami kneeling on the other side of the ice, closer than Yugi thought.

"What are you doing in there?" Yami asks, confused.

"Go away," Yugi mutters.

Yami presses his palms to the ice, and Yugi watches a small ball of orange appear in each one, eating away at his wall. He groans in frustration, crossing his arms to give the point. The cold water pools and freezes around his feet as Yami appears through the gap in the ice.

"Bakura needs to see you," Yami explains, and Yugi's staring at the small candlelight flame on Yami's palm. It diminishes when Yami notices, and he repeats himself.

"Why?" Yugi questions, suspiciously.

Yami sighs, impatiently. "He wants to check out your arm, see what they put into you."

Yugi crosses his arms tighter. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you'll never find out what kind of dangerous substances you're pumping around." Yugi looks unwavering, so Yami adds, "Ryou trusts us."

Yugi scoffs, quietly. "You have a lenient description of trust."

A crease forms in Yami's brow. "What?"

"You don't know anything about Ryou, don't pretend to."

"Look, it won't take long, and it's in your best interest," Yami perseveres, his flushed cheeks remarkably noticeable next to the melting ice. "You can-... You can trust us, alright?"

Yugi appraises him for a few moments, scrutinizing the sincerity on his face before giving in, resigned. He unfolds his arms and gets to his feet, with Yami scrambling to as well.

"Tristan and Bakura are waiting downstairs," Yami says, indicating he'll lead the way. Yugi follows, silently, and he seems to be following everyone, lately.

He's lost his equilibrium, in this place. Doesn't know where he stands, or what he's expected to do. He walks as if pulled by string, or a route he's long memorized and no longer needs to pay any mind. The little blonde girl runs past him on the way, her shoes making clacking sounds against the boards. They pass the kitchen and down a hallway, where Yami twists the doorknob of the last room. He glances back to make sure Yugi's following, and opens the door.

The room is painfully white, in a way that reminds him of S-CORP. It looks like one of the labs, as well, but much smaller and less formal. Yami ushers him in first and follows behind, almost as if to corner Yugi into the room. Bakura and Tristan are, thankfully, not dressed in white; they are dressed in clean clothes however, having showered and changed since the soccer match. Bakura smiles welcomingly, patting the gray seat beside him.

"Hey," Bakura greets, "just have a seat here."

"What are you going to do?" Yugi asks, not moving.

"We're just going to check out the marks," Tristan responds, blinking behind glasses that Yugi hadn't seen him wear up until this point.

Yugi sits, reluctantly, and Yami moves to the side of the room, getting something from the bench.

"Why weren't you at dinner?" Bakura asks, gesturing for Yugi to lay his arm out.

"Wasn't feeling well," Yugi says, unsure. The inside of his elbow has worsened throughout the day; some of the recent marks are puckered and swollen, reddened around the edges. Bakura makes a clucking noise with his tongue, and Tristan accepts a tray from Yami.

"Then it's a good thing we're checking," Bakura says, seriously. "You might be reacting badly; they might have been keeping you under observation."

Yami sits down on Yugi's other side, watching intently, and Bakura examines his arm, prodding at a few of them as Yugi hisses. He apologies, and then grimaces.

"I need to take samples," Bakura tells him.

"You're not a doctor," Yugi blurts out before he can stop himself. What if this is another S-CORP, just with friendlier faces? A tendril of fear spreads up Yugi's spine.

"I've done a lot of study in the medical field," Bakura says, smiling wryly. "My mental capacity makes me the best candidate in this room."

Tristan lowers the tray, and Yugi's eyes flick over the cotton buds, little packets of something, and a small row of needles. Yugi tenses, and Bakura tightens his hold on his wrist.

"Easy, we're going to numb it first, with this gel," Bakura tells him, soothingly. "Then we're just going to take a little. You'll be fine, I promise."

"No," Yugi says.

"This is better than going back to CIA headquarters to do this," Tristan tells him, as Bakura smacks on gloves. "We could do it this way, or the hard way."

"Tristan," Yami murmurs, reproachfully. Yami says, to Yugi, "Don't worry, Bakura's good at this."

"I don't care-" Yugi stops short when he notices a change of hands; Tristan's holding his wrist out now, and Bakura has his eyes on a needle, screwing in the metal tip.

Yugi tries to pull back his arm, and Tristan tells him, "Relax."

Bakura rubs in a clear gel over the needle marks, and Yugi swallows, trying to remember what place he went to when the doctors injected him. He can't remember. He wants Ryou. How foolish they were to think this was going to be different, as if they would ever be free.

As his skin starts to numb, Yami's fingers stroke the inside of his other wrist, sending warmth up his arm with each touch. Tension and anxiety keep his arms in place, instead of retreating from Yami's fingers. Bakura presses the needle in, and Yugi feels the sting and burn once it gets past the first layer of skin. He hisses and makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat as Bakura fills the small vial with a bloody substance, thick and vile.

When he pulls it out, a small bead of blood bubbles out over the skin. "Only a few left," Bakura says, smiling a worn smile.

Yugi pulls his arm from Yami's stroking fingers, and wrenches his hand with some difficulty from Tristan's grip. He feels hands on his shoulders but he manages to propel himself from the chair, rounding on them.

"You're no different!" he yells at them, and the blood dribbles down his arm. "You said you were rescuing us. You said we could trust you. You fucking _liars_."

Yugi rarely swears; it was used by the doctors and scientists many times, and he was taught all about profanity, but only now he realizes what it means to use it in such a vigorous, deserving sense.

Yami stares, stunned, and Jon's eyes are calculating, assessing the situation. Tristan looks merely intrigued, curious. Yugi runs to the door before they can restrain him, tearing down the hallway. Footsteps follow him, and he's hit with a sudden sense of déjà vu.

Being ten years old and running away as fast as he could, but never fast or far enough. The hallways were always dark by that time, when he was able to slip away. Hands used to come out of doorways, grasping at him. He would scream for his mother as they caught him, holding him tight and telling him it's alright. Everything's alright. His head throbs, headache pounding.

No hands come out of doorways here. He runs to where the hallway ends, and little eyes watch him, children curious and glancing in. Ryou's arm hooks around his waist, and Ryou pulls him closer, asking immediately after seeing the look on his face, "Hey-hey,what's wrong? What's going on?"

"We need to get out of here," Yugi tells him, urgently, and Mai throws her tea towel on to the bench, and puts her hands on her hips as the three men come into the room after him. Tèa watches from where she sits on the clear kitchen table, a colorful parrot perched on her shoulder.

"What did you boys do?" Mai scolds, shorter than them all, except for maybe Yami.

"Yugi, if you don't give us samples now, we can't be sure how much longer the residue will be there," Tristan tells him, ignoring the blonde woman between them.

"It's for your safety," Bakura says.

"Please," Yami adds, quietly, earnestly.

"I don't want to," Yugi says, his voice croaky and guttural, and Ryou grips him tighter.

"Wait," Tèa says, stroking the bird's feathers, "What could happen if he doesn't?" Her hair stops at her shoulders, and the parrot nibbles at the strands.

"Permanent damage, or worse case scenario, power explosion," Bakura answers, and Yugi watches Yami's face; he's gnawing deeply on his thin bottom lip. "If that happens, we're all in danger."

"He's showing no symptoms," Mai defends, not relaxing her stance.

"Let them, Mai," Tèa says. "It's for the best, Yugi knows that."

"He said no," Ryou argues, angered. "Yugi doesn't run from things for no reason."

The air is tense, and they all stare at each other; Yami at Mai, Tristan at Ryou, Bakura at Yugi, and Tèa glancing between them all. The blood on Yugi's arm starts to clot, and it's started to dry thin in the small dribble inching to his wrist.

A headache blooms, hard and sudden, in the forefront of his mind, and he flinches. Bakura stares harder, as if enforced, and Yugi looks away. The parrot screeches, and Tèa hushes, "Not now."

"This shouldn't even be an option, with your headaches," Bakura says, gravely. "That's a symptom for you, _Mai_."

"Don't talk to me like that," she bites back.

"Stop babying him or the CIA will be down here to pick him up instead," Tristan sighs, and he removes his glasses, slowly cleaning them.

She glowers at them. "Is that a threat?"

Bakura makes a face. "No-one's threatening anyone."

"I am," Tristan says, mildly, replacing his glasses. "This is a matter of national security. He's been contaminated and I'll be damned if we have a repeat of the last time."

"This is nothing like that!" she exclaims.

"We're not taking those chances," Tristan replies. "Either he comes here, or the CIA comes to him."

"Over my body," she snorts.

She moves quickly, grasping Yugi's wrist, and he hears Yami's shout of, "Mai, don't-!" before his stomach seems to bottom out and he's being stretched in impossible ways.


	4. Chapter 4

He lands hard on the sand, dry-retching on an empty stomach. Ryou's not so fortunate, throwing up his dinner, bent forward on his knees. The quiet is sudden and thick, penetrated only the background noise of rushing waves, far off and muffled.

Mai tightens her jumper around herself, and peers down at them. "Sorry," she says, belatedly. "I sometimes forget about the motion sickness."

Yugi collapses on top of his own feet, his hands planting backwards into the sand, and above him is a great expanse of sky, with hundreds of stars spattered across it, like white flecks of paint on a black canvas. His breath comes out in something of a gasp, and Ryou rolls on to his back, away from the sick.

"Where are we?" Yugi asks, tenuous, breathing heavy.

Mai turns towards the waves, and the wind blows her hair back, away from her face. "A beach, about a state over."

His head hurts; it's hard to swallow.

"Don't hold it against them," Mai says, quietly, and she sits down close to the two boys. "They're... they're good guys. They wouldn't hurt you."

Yugi tightens his hand into a fist, and Ryou sits up, indignation etched into his features.

"They're just as bad as those scientists, back there," Ryou spits.

Mai looks close to tears. "They're not, God, I swear. It's just... Tristan knows a lot, okay? He's one of the youngest agents there, but he knows so much about this subject, about all of us. Bakura, he's smart, too smart, he knows all the risks and possibilities, and his knowledge sometimes clashes with our instincts. But Yami believes in Bakura; Bakura's saved his life countless times, and they're best friends."

Mai rubs her forehead. "You two were the latest. We've never rescued someone as late as seventeen and eighteen, and they've never been in captivity for as long as eleven years. We consider Bakura different... he was never a real child. His gift allows him to cope better, I guess. But you two... it's all undetermined how you'll function, now."

"They're trying to protect the lives of their own," she continues, sand drifting through her fingers. "We had a problem once."

Ryou bites his thumbnail, chewing at the nail and the gritty remains of the sand. Yugi closes his eyes, feeling hot flashes of pain surge through his mind, and his arm has started to ache thoroughly.

"There was a boy, about eleven," Mai explains, reciting slowly, "we saved him, we loved him. He had these marks on his thigh from where they experimented on him. We tried to put it behind us all, and nurture him in a loving environment. It turns out that..." She pauses, before swallowing. "They used growth hormones and strengthening agents to enhance his ability. They wanted to use him as a weapon. The more we ignored it, the more it concentrated. He was able to control the energy around him; mainly in things like light bulbs, batteries, you get the point. The more it intensified inside him, the more distracted he became."

She watches the dark waves lap at the shore, troubled. "His power exploded in such a way I've never seen before. We were all out in public. The lights burst, the power lines snapped and flew in all directions, and everyone was thrown back with such a force that it winded whoever was within a hundred feet. Three innocent bystanders died, along with the boy. It took a day to clean up the streets, and almost a week to get the electricity functioning again."

She wipes her cheeks prematurely, even though she hadn't shed any tears, almost as if it was an involuntary reaction.

"He died?" Ryou echoes, imagining the scenario before him.

Yugi wonders what it would be like to have all that power expelled from your body. Would there be a point you could actually feel it shift? Feel it exit your soul completely and be thrown out wildly into the world?

"Tristan was close to being demoted, and Bakura felt responsible," she answers. "Bakura expects himself to always know the answers, to always see things us mere people can't." Her dry, sardonic tone mixes with the salty air.

"And Yami?" Yugi asks, watching her face.

"He mourned losing a friend," she shrugs. "I think we all had our share of grief."

They sit in silence, and with every throb and twitch, Yugi wonders what's inside him. He's had needles spanning over weeks now; would it be too late for them to do anything? He fears what's inside him, but fears more so the look of the needle and the familiar feeling of his trapped wrist.

Yugi closes his eyes, and says, "I'm sorry. I should have just let them."

Mai clutches his cold hand suddenly. "Don't you ever be sorry for being afraid."

Sitting behind and between Yugi and Mai, Ryou lets out a choked noise.

"You sound a lot like my mother," Ryou says, giving a watery smile for one, two, three seconds, before crumpling and letting Mai hug him tight.

Yugi rubs his back and rests his head on Ryou's slumped shoulder. Yugi doesn't remember his parents vividly. Not much to remember, except his father demanding they take the 'little freak' from his house while his mother cried.

Ryou has a lot of stories about his parents. His father, the bearer of gifts, his mother, the healer of all wounds, and his sister, the master of annoyance. A stab of jealousy punctures Yugi's lungs, but he keeps breathing, and keeps holding on.

Mai tells them another story, this time about beaches and sunshine, bathing suits and sand castles. She promises them they'll come here again one day, in the daytime, and they'll see what life on the outside is like. She tells them they'll come to understand fun and togetherness, and put away any doubt. Soon.

When they do return, they're teleported straight back to their room. Ryou doesn't vomit this time, but does stumble from the dizziness, aimlessly fumbling to hold on to Yugi's staggering frame. When they do come to a proper standing position, Mai smiles tiredly at them.

"I figured I'd let you decide whether or not you want to be seen right now," Mai says, but Yugi can't hear her properly; she sounds as if she's talking underwater.

"I think Yugi should have something to eat," Ryou says, and Yugi shakes his head to empty his ears. Perhaps noise distortion is an effect of teleporting. He follows them distractedly out of the room and downstairs, and the headache has subsided, to a sort of enveloping fog of discomfort.

Tèa and Yami are at the kitchen table when they enter, and Tèa says something that Yugi can only distinguish as murmurs. He misses a step, his feet going the wrong direction, and Ryou catches him before he falls.

He blinks, long and hard, before trying to move forward. He blacks out instead.

* * *

Yugi dreams that he's floating. He's floating in water, and the water is littered with shards of ice, prickly and cold. He floats nowhere; he doesn't know where he's supposed to be going, or if he's ever going to get there. The water is black, and the ice is a hazy blue, unlike the white kind that comes from his palms. He feels calm and peaceful, as if destination does not matter. Nothing matters.

He feels like he's melted into a photo of Antarctica. At the thought, the water begins to ripple, as if wrinkling together as a page would. The world shifts suddenly, and he rushes down with the water and ice, vertical. Darkness surrounds him and the cold envelopes him.

He sees a light. It grows as he falls further and further, becoming larger and brighter and ruining his darkened world. _No_. He doesn't want the light, it's too warm. He flaps his arms and flails his legs, but he keeps falling just as fast, toward the heat. It's too bright, too hot; the ice is melting around him-

"His eyelids moved."

Yugi feels his fingers twitch, and abruptly, he's no longer falling. He's lying on his back and there's heat all along his right arm. He opens his eyes, blurred, and faces surround him. He blinks a few times, and clears his itching throat.

"I told you we needed to take samples," Tristan lectures, "but no, I know _nothing_."

He's scowling, but Mai touches his arm, and says, "Thank you, Tristan."

Tristan murmurs something, and tugs on his hood.

"See you pulled through," Bakura says, grinning. Yugi looks up at him, confused, and he feels a hand remove itself from his right shoulder; it's Yami's. He wants to say something, but Yami steps behind Ryou, who looks worried beyond belief.

"That was scary," Ryou admits, quietly.

"What happened?" it doesn't even sound like his voice.

"We'll explain it when you'll remember it," Bakura chuckles.

Yugi frowns, closing his eyes sleepily. "What?"

He hears Bakura laugh, again, but that's all he makes out before he's lulled away.

* * *

He wakes up, again, this time sitting up quickly, heart pounding as if he's forgetting something. Hands grip his arms, and his eyes take a while to adjust to the dim light. It's night outside, and a soothing voice says, "Whoa, there."

Yugi feels the dizzying rush from moving too quickly, almost falling backwards again. He eyes Yami wearily, and asks, "What are you doing here?" It comes out dry.

Yami cocks as eyebrow, propping pillows behind Yugi's back. "It's my turn to see if you wake up."

Yugi tilts his head.

"You've been out for almost three days."

Yugi boggles, but the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, "That would explain why I'm so thirsty." He shakes his head at himself, swallowing to wet his mouth again. "That was rude."

Yami looks on with amusement. "No need to apologize. Is water okay?"

"Yeah," Yugi gravels out, graciously. Yami disappears, and Yugi finds himself shirtless in a firm bed in a different room, one he's never been in. His elbow is wrapped in a bandage and there's a lamp beside the bed, buzzing as it works. His body feels as if it's made of water, and moving his arms and legs is an effort. He wiggles his toes, experimentally.

Yami comes back with a glass of water, and Yugi tries to accept it, but moving his arms is more of a challenge than he thought. He fights a blush but Yami doesn't laugh, instead puts the rim of the cup to Yugi's lips. He tilts it up for Yugi, and tilts it down for him to swallow. The water is warm from Yami's hand around the glass, but it goes cold in his mouth; it adds to his dizziness. They repeat the steps four times before the cup is empty, and Yami sets it down beside the bed, next to the lamp.

Yugi licks his lips before venturing to say, "What happened? I don't-... We were going to the kitchen."

Yami looks chastised and apologetic. "It seems when we took the first sample, we triggered a reaction. If I knew it would happen, I wouldn't have helped, I mean, I just..." he trails off, before shaking his head and moving forward. "Bakura could probably explain this better, but it's like... the S-CORP injected you with an experimental drug, one to raise your temperature. They were probably trying to see how your power worked when you were at normal body temperature, but it didn't work that way. Instead of heating your core temperature, it kind of just... warmed up your nerve system?"

Yugi stares back, surprised, and looks to his elbow. "And now?"

"Well, Tristan took over once you collapsed, took samples from all the marks he could, and found something to combat it. I think he saved your life."

Yami's sitting beside the bed, looking small and tired, but hopeful. The worried look that had been hanging around his brow evaporates when Yugi lends him a small smile.

"I know you're probably still angry at us," Yami concedes, and his hands are clenched together in front of himself, anxiously. "We could have done things differently. But, it's happened before. There was this boy, and-"

"Mai told me," Yugi interrupts, quietly, and his fingers twitch under the sheets.

Yami nods, solemnly. "Mai's really protective. She lost her family when she was young, so now she... she tries really hard, and if Tristan hadn't saved your life, she probably wouldn't be speaking to him at all."

Yugi swallows, hard. "It's been very strange."

Yami laugh, shaking his head a little. "Well, we don't usually have this much drama after a rescue."

Yugi tilts his head to Yami, assessing him vaguely. "What was it like when they broke you out?"

Yami wrings his hands together. "Bakura knew. I don't know how he did, but... He forced open as many doors as he could, before we met Joey and Mai. Joey had a tornado going in the middle of the room, and Mai grabbed us both and teleported. That's usually how it goes; when we got you and Ryou, it was more destructive than it should have been. Either they'd picked up on all the facilities beginning to be infiltrated, or they really wanted to keep you."

Yami sighs a little, and looks up into Yugi's eyes. In the dark, Yugi can't really make out the color of his irises. "Your headaches should go away now, or at least decrease in intensity and frequency," Yami says in a clinical tone. "You should feel better soon."

Yugi nods, mutely. He hears the soft ticking of a clock, but can't see one. He rests his head back, still supported by the pillows. He hears Yami stifle a yawn, and smiles.

"You can go to bed. I'm fine," Yugi tells him.

"Mai would skin me alive if I did," Yami says with a grin. "Besides, I doubt you're tired, and it'd get lonely if I just left you here."

Yugi looks back, unimpressed. "I don't need entertaining."

Yami bites his tongue, still smiling. "Either way, I'm still staying."

Yugi huffs, but doesn't have the strength to cross his arms. Yami seems to sense this, and smirks.

"Why can't I move my arms and legs?" Yugi grunts.

"Your muscles are recouping, nothing major," Yami assures him, and he curls his feet up on to the chair, crossing his legs. "By morning you should be able to get out of bed."

Yugi wiggles his toes determinedly. "Where is this room?"

"The guest room on the bottom floor. We decided it would be easier than trying to face the stairs."

Yugi nods. "What did I miss in the last... three days?"

"Well, Bakura's been teaching Ryou how to fish-" Yugi looks incredulous at this "- and we've had a hard time keeping all the kids out of this room, because they think you died and we're just lying to them."

"Died?"

"They're morbid kids," he says, suffocatingly. "Some of them are too young to really understand."

"Why do you do this?" Yugi asks. He experimentally moves his hand, and it sways a little, his wrist shaking.

"What do you mean?" Yami asks, gnawing on his bottom lip.

"You know. This. Stay here and help people. Why not leave and see the world?"

Yami contemplates for a long time; the hidden clock continues to tick, and Yugi keeps rolling his wrist, watching Yami's face with darkened interest. Yami tucks a lock of his bangs behind his ear, before he answers, "I guess because it's a purpose."

"Traveling would have a purpose."

"But not the same. When you travel you just drift, and I don't want to drift." He pulls up his crossed legs, and hugs them to his chest. His toes curl over the edge of the chair. "I want to help people; I want to be a part of this. Don't you?"

Yugi bites his tongue. He considers it for a moment, before replying truthfully, "Not really."

"After a while, you might. It tends to grow on people."

Yugi flexes his hand, and his fingers span out. "Can I have another glass of water?"

Yami nods, grasping the cup and leaving the room. Yugi adjusts himself, having trouble keeping balance since his limbs still refuse to co-operate. The sheets are smooth and soft, and they look a warm yellow in the dim light, stretched over his lower half. He lets out a low breath, feeling his chest deflate and his eyes close briefly.

Yami steps back into the room, shadows dancing over his face before he enters the warm glow. He lifts the glass to Yugi's mouth, but Yugi shakes his head. "Put it in my hand."

Yami looks doubtful. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Yami sets the cup on the mattress, and Yugi's twitchy fingers enclose around it. He lifts his wrist slightly, testing, and it's slow but steady. Yami hovers, and the water turns icy in the cup. Yugi lifts with his elbow, which makes the water tremble. Yugi's not used to having his muscles so exhausted, and it's a frustrating experience, having to labor just to lift a glass of water. He gets as far as lifting his forearm forty-five degrees, before his wrist gives out and the water spills all over the blankets and the glass falls, rolling off the mattress to smash on the floor.

Yami jumps back, and Yugi curses under his breath, his cheeks burning. The spilt water turns to ice on the sheets, making them hard and stiff. Yami shakes his head and says, "What were you trying to prove?" He pulls the sheet off Yugi's body, tip toeing around the glass. Yugi's sweatpants are dampened on the front.

"It's your fault I can't move!" Wounded by embarrassment.

"My fault?" Yami fires back. "You're going to blame us for what _they_ did?"

Yugi glares at the wall, and Yami walks briskly from the room; Yugi half suspects he's left him alone for good, but he returns with a dustpan and brush in hand, and a new sheet thrown over his shoulder. He tosses the sheet on to the bed, and underneath them is another pair of sweatpants.

"I swear, we help you both, rescue you, give you a home, and you turn into a whining little-" Yami stops short, choosing to mutter maliciously under his breath as he sweeps up the glass from the floor.

"You don't have to deal with me," Yugi says through gritted teeth.

Yami makes a vague, eccentric motion with his hands, glass clattering against the sides of the dustpan. Yugi looks away sourly, irritated and wanting to do something childish, like kick his legs, but lacks the mobility. Yami finishes sweeping before banishing the dustpan to the corner of the room. Yugi pointedly doesn't look in his direction.

Yami sighs, and starts to yank down his sweatpants.

"Hey!"

"Unless you can suddenly change yourself, give me a better option."

"My pants don't matter, the cold doesn't affect me."

Yami seems to debate this, before nodding and leaving Yugi's pants where they are, and draping the warm blanket over the bed. Yugi doesn't look at him, and Yami collapses into the armchair.

But he can feel Yami's eyes on him, staring and scrutinizing. It becomes increasingly uncomfortable, and there's an itch in the back of Yugi's throat. He's too proud to talk now, though, so he steadfastly concentrates on the shadows on the walls. He wonders how long until the sunrises and the others wake up; it's starting to brighten outside, the pitch black turning to charcoal gray.

Yami's fingers tap on the arm of the lounge, and if pride wasn't holding his tongue, Yugi would snap at him to go to bed already. In a gesture of his displeasure, Yugi slumps down on the bed, and the pillows supporting his back flip up, resting on the top of his head in an undignified manner.

It takes a bit of strength to roll on to his side, facing away from Yami, and he closes his eyes to feign sleep. He listens to the _tap tap_ of Yami's fingers and _tick tock_ of the clock, his breathing deepening and his toes wiggling. He starts to lull, his mind going elsewhere, and warm fingertips catch him off guard.

He feels Yami rearranging the pillows, lifting his head to rest one underneath, before retreating back to the chair; the sigh of the cushion gives it away, although Yami says nothing. Yugi keeps his eyes closed, determinedly, although he doubts sleep will come.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter won't be up until next weekend. Sorry, guys. This is to make up for the Monday update, though.

Also, if you're keeping tabs on my other story, the next chapter for that should be up between the next two days as well.

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So I'm not even going to try to explain the hectic last few days I've been having but I did tell you guys I'd be back last weekend and for that I'm sorry! Other than my other story that will get an update between today or tomorrow, regular updating days are going to start back up again next week. Here's a long one for you.

* * *

When he next opens his eyes, he's surprised by the morning light. His sheets are white in the streaming day light, and a black rabbit is close to his face, staring at him with beady black eyes. Cautiously, Yugi lifts his arm –it comes easily, now – and pets the rabbit behind its ears.

The rabbit blinks at him, and he hesitates to sit up. He does so, and finds it surprisingly easy, although his sides hurt a little, and his elbow joint aches. The seat Yami had occupied is emptied, looking different in the light; brighter and softer, perhaps.

There's noise about the house; distant but there, and he pulls the rabbit into his lap, stroking its soft fur. He wonders where it came from. One of the children's pets? A friend of Téa? He thinks about moving out of the bed, but a slight movement of his legs shows that's not about to happen.

"Where'd you come from?" Yugi asks the little rabbit, and it makes a tittering noise back at him. He smiles, without really meaning to. He had missed animals, a lot. He used to have a dog, back before. He can't even remember what breed it was, but it was warm and had a black patch over its left eye.

He looks over to the corner, and the dustpan is no longer there. He feels a twinge of guilt, but composes himself as the door opens. Bakura slips inside, smiling broadly.

"How's the invalid?" He grins.

Yugi slants his mouth. "Still lame."

"It'll pass. Moving will speed it up. The acid in your muscles just need circulation."

Yugi looks at him dubiously. "How do I move them?"

He feels a sudden pushing and pulling on his legs, and they slide off the bed. He grabs his bed sheets as a force tugs his legs forward a bit. "Stop it!"

"I won't let you fall."

"Like I'd trust you!"

"Looks like you have no choice." Bakura looks unrepentant as he watches Yugi stumble forward.

Yugi realizes his weight isn't exactly held by his legs, but more an invisible energy, holding him upright and moving his limbs. It's sore, like Bakura said, and the acids make his muscles unresponsive and tender. His left foot takes a lurching step forward, and Yugi shoots Bakura a glare. His legs protest as they stretch out, and Yugi holds out his arms for balance, just in case.

"You're a horrible doctor."

"And you're a shitty patient," Bakura returns, his arms crossed with a look of slight satisfaction. The rabbit on the bed looks on, occasionally moving closer to the edge of the bed in a hobbling fashion.

Yugi finds himself lurching forward again, but a gentle pressure keeps him from falling, and he swallows. His legs feel better, a little wobbly still, but not straining so much.

"How did Tristan know what was wrong with me?" Yugi gets it out through clenched teeth.

"Technology," Bakura shrugs. "He's good at this. He knows about molecular biology."

"And this was the only way?"

Bakura leans against the bedpost. "You'd rather die?"

"I'm just asking a question."

"A wise man would accept a miracle."

Yugi snorts.

"I hear you gave Yami trouble."

Yugi purses his lips, and a little of the pressure evaporates, and more weight is out on his legs; they shake slightly, but don't give way. "Not purposely."

"You should be thankful Yami volunteered to watch you."

"He volunteered?"

"He's a giving person." Bakura looks protective and guarded. "It would have been unfortunate waking up alone and immobile."

Yugi tightens his lips further, and takes a step forward by himself. It works, and he allows himself a little smile. He looks up to see Bakura smile back and quickly returns to a neutral mask.

"I was under the impression Yami didn't enjoy my company."

"Well, you assumed wrong. Yami doesn't just dislike people. You have to give him a reason." Bakura lifts both eyebrows. "Although he does think you hate him."

"Smart kid."

All the forces leave him suddenly, and he falls forward, flailing, before stopping an inch from the ground. His eyes stare at the floorboards, and his held breath comes out in a rush. Bakura slowly lifts him, and says, "I suggest you watch yourself. Yami's a good guy, and if you keep being inconsiderate towards him, this isn't going to be a pleasant stay."

"That was a dirty trick," Yugi hisses, testily. Once he can walk properly again, he vows to blast Bakura's bed with ice. Or his clothes. Or something.

Bakura nods, allowing. "It was." His eyes glance to Yugi's bed, and he frowns. "Marik, Téa's been looking for you."

Yugi's eyes widen, and the black rabbit morphs into the tall man, perched contently on Yugi's bed. "But it's more interesting here. I get to see all the arguments."

"You-! You were-!" Yugi splutters, and Marik tilts his head, uncomprehending.

"What?"

"I thought you were a rabbit!"

"I was."

"A real one!"

"I wa-"

"No you weren't!"

Bakura snorts, and Marik seems discouraged, unable to fathom why Yugi seems so mortified.

"Your hands are really soft, by the way. Cold, but soft."

Yugi blushes deeply, and Bakura chuckles. "I think you should leave now, Marik, Yugi and I need to talk in private."

Marik gives a small pout, but gets up anyway, bidding them farewell before closing the door behind him.

"This place is confusing," Yugi broods.

"Unlike the S-CORP?"

Yugi takes three steps forward, and doesn't overbalance. "I can stand on my own," he says quietly.

Bakura nods, releasing him, and Yugi tips for a moment, but keeps his balance.

"I meant what I said," Bakura tells him. "Yami's my friend, and he can be easily hurt if by the right people. He's taken a liking to you. Don't hurt him."

"He's the one who called me cold, and whiny," Yugi defends, trying to keep the sulky tone out of his voice.

"I don't doubt you deserved it," Bakura replies ruthlessly.

"Thanks," Yugi replies, frostily.

"Ryou's waiting for you in the kitchen," Bakura deflects. "I think you should go see him now."

Yugi takes ungainly steps forward, pausing next to Bakura. "You taught him how to fish, huh?"

Bakura's eyes brighten a little, and his mouth softens. "Yeah."

Yugi nods, and the corner of his mouth quirks up. "Thanks. He would've liked that."

A look of astonishment and bewilderment enters Bakura's eyes, and he says, "You're welcome?"

Yugi just nods, and sets out down the hallway. He outstretches his arms so his hands touch each wall, helping him to support himself. He comes to the mouth of the hallway quickly enough, turning into the kitchen.

Five kids are all gathered around the table; some are doing homework, others are drawing, with a jar of pens and crayons in the middle. Ryou's sitting down with the youngest, helping her with her scribbled drawing, although when she sets her hand on the paper, the scribbles come to life, wiggling and oozing around the paper.

Yugi leans against the wall and watches; Ryou senses his eyes soon enough, looking up distractedly. He smiles wide at the sight of Yugi, excusing himself from the busy girl to cross the room and pull Yugi into a hug.

"You're awake."

"I am."

Ryou's brown eyes look bright and hopeful. "I'm glad."

Yugi smirks sarcastically. "So am I."

Ryou lowers his voice, quieter with more seriousness. "If we were still at the S-CORP, I'd... I'd kill them, really."

Yugi smiles, "I know you would." Ryou wouldn't really, but the intention is clear, and Yugi tugs him forward for another hug.

Ryou steps back, and assesses Yugi, looking him up and down. "Not too shabby."

Yugi sneers. "I've been out for three days."

"You only smell a little."

The same little girl that Ryou had been helping looks over, and shouts, "He's alive!"

On cue, the other children whip around, the older ones doing so more subtly, and there's a jabber of talking as they all ask where he's been and what was wrong. Bakura laughs mercilessly as he walks past, amused.

Mai comes to the table with a jug of juice and plastic cups, smiling at Yugi warmly.

"How're you feeling? You've gotten your strength back, I see."

"Yeah," Yugi says, splaying his hand and curling it into a fist, "I feel better, thank you."

She sweeps her hair over her shoulder and bows her head, welcoming his thanks. The children are still watching him, some seeming a little disenchanted now he's walking fine.

A gust of wind blows into the house, although they're not near a door, and it's accompanied by a pissed off Joey with feathers in his hair, stalking through the room and up the stairs. The children's' papers flutter, with little hands thudding them to the table out of practice.

Téa comes running past, calling out Joey's name, and also disappears from sight as she bounds up the stairs. A teenage boy pokes his head into the kitchen, and Yugi recognizes him as one of the Alexes, the one they nicknamed Singer.

"What happened?" Mai says, exasperated.

"Well," Singer hedges, and he steps in to view, toeing the ground. "We thought it would be funny to throw the pigeons into the wind, and-"

"Are you talking about _Téa's_ pigeons, and _Joey's_ sphere?" Mai stands straighter, sterner.

Singer seems to shrink, remorse written all over his face as he hangs his head. "It was just a joke! We didn't know the wind went that fast. And then Joey thought Téa did it, and she got angry and rounded on us, and now Joey's really mad."

Mai seems to tense for a moment, before rubbing her temple and shaking her head. "You and Alex and Alex are in _big trouble_ mister. Are the pigeons all right?"

He scuffs his shoe on the ground.

"Once Joey has calmed down, the three of you are going to march up there and apologize. Where are they?"

"Um," Singer says, obviously picturing the yard and how many places his friends could hide.

"We're all going to have a long discussion," Mai says, "now go wait in the living room for me."

He nods, scurrying off, and Yugi looks at Mai wordlessly.

"Bloody kids, I swear," she says.

"Did I mishear, or does Joey have a _sphere_?" Yugi asks.

"Yeah," Ryou says, animatedly, "it's really awesome to see in action. It's like a wind cocoon."

"I'm sure we'll be seeing some tornados tonight," Mai forecasts, and one of the older girls at the table snickers.

"Is it always like this?" Yugi questions.

"Hectic," Ryou reasons, "but not to this degree."

"You haven't missed out on much," Mai assures him, scooping up the little girl as she starts making all the animals on the photo gallop around.

"'Tem!" the little girl cheers, hands outstretched towards the doorway.

Yugi turns, but the archway is empty. A voice around the corner says, "Did I hear a little angel call my name?" Yami walks in, grinning, and the little girl claps her hands.

"Her foresight is getting better," Mai comments, as Yami comes and sweeps the girl out of Mai hands, and whirls her around.

"Of course it is, she's a talented little girl," Yami grinned, rubbing noses with the child and eventually settling her on his hip.

"'Tem?" Yugi questions the odd name, lifting his eyebrows and Yami explains curtly. "Becca here doesn't call me Yami, said it was depressing. She started calling me Atem, which soon just turned into 'Tem. Weird name, I know. We still don't know where she got it from and she won't tell. Kind of just a norm now, I guess." He turns back to the young girl in his arms to rub their noses together while she giggled.

"Rebecca is my youngest cousin," Mai says, formally, to Yugi, "she's able to make animation out of two-dimensional objects, and has recently been able to predict certain things a few seconds before they happen."

"Haven't had anyone with two powers before," Yami adds, and the little girl latches her arms tighter around Yami's throat.

"What about her parents?" Yugi asks, as Ryou sits back down at the table, obviously already having heard the story before.

Mai looks sadly at the little girl. "Dead. They say it was a car accident, but you never know... Although the S-CORP isn't known to kill children's parents, it's a possibility. As soon as she appeared on the S-CORP's radar, we picked her up."

The little girl tugs on her blonde plaits, talking to Yami excitedly about all the animals in the pictures and all the things they're going to do. Yami just smiles back, hefting her higher on his hip.

"What are the chances, having two in the same family?" Yugi asks, leaning back against the wall.

"Pretty common, actually," Yami tells him, knowingly. "It runs in the blood line, not the mutation specifically, but the genes that are able to mutate. We know of brothers and sisters in various families across the globe that were both gifted, but that was before us; they're either very old or passed away by now."

"Except for the Kaiba brothers," Mai injects. "But they don't live here anymore."

Yugi ponders on this, and wondering where the gene was passed down; his mother's side, or his fathers. He hopes it was his mother's.

"So I heard some stomping upstairs," Yami comments to Mai, setting Rebecca down, and she promptly goes back to her seat, and back to drawing.

"Joey," Mai remarks, offhand. "He'll be fine by lunch."

Yami nods, and sticks his hands in his pockets. "Have you seen Bakura?"

Mai flaps her hands noncommittally. "I think he was outside somewhere."

Yami moves to the side, and Mai snags his shirt.

"Oh, no you don't. You can stay here and keep an eye on the kids. I'm taking a break."

Yami groans, flopping down over the bench. "Whyyyy?"

Mai just rolls her eyes, and flicks his ears. "Because I asked you to."

"They don't like me; they'll disobey me and make a mess. You're putting their lives in danger."

"Shush, they love you, and Ryou and Yugi are here if anything happens."

Yami looks sidelong at Ryou and makes a pained look; Ryou laughs. Mai pokes Yami's side once, before taking her glass of lemonade with her as she exits, either to go upstairs or outside. Yami sighs and props up on his elbows, surveying the kids.

"Don't supposed you'll cover for me?" Yami tries hopefully to Ryou.

"And face her wrath?" Ryou asks rhetorically.

Yami groans again, pulling up a stool to the bench and sitting down, pouring himself a glass of lemonade. "Come keep me company, then."

Ryou moves from the kitchen table to the kitchen bench, a few feet from the kids, and Yugi follows. He sits on the black stool with a little difficulty, still not having control of all his balance. His stomach tumbles slightly with hunger.

"You're looking better," Yami tells him, appraisingly, although there's a guarded look about his eyes.

"I am," Yugi says, perching his elbows up on the counter. He hesitates before adding, "Thank you."

Yami gives him a polite but pained smile in return. Ryou gives Yugi a funny look, but Yugi just picks at the fake limestone of the bench. A minute passes, with Yami drinking from his glass as the children play loudly, comparing pictures and squabbling over pencils. Yugi digs his nail into the bench, and Ryou clears his throat.

"Do you think you'll be sleeping upstairs now?" Ryou asks.

Yugi shrugs, and Yami answers cautiously, glancing at Yugi, "I think Bakura wants him to stay downstairs for a bit."

"I can handle stairs."

"Humor him."

Yugi looks away, over towards the fridge were the multicolored magnets hold drawings and reports. The clatter of the back door echoes, and catches Yugi's attention.

Bakura steps in to the kitchen, searching. His eyes land on Yami, then glance back at the kids. A grin comes over his face, and he taunts, "You're stuck with babysitting."

Yami frowns and glares. "Jerk. You want to take over?"

"Uh-uh," Bakura refuses. "I have work to do, and I wanted to see if you'd help. Joey was supposed to...but he's gone." Bakura looks over Ryou and Yugi, pausing on Yugi. "I doubt you're up to manual labor just yet. What about you Ry? Any problems with cutting up wood?"

Ryou seems excited at the prospect, smiling wide. "No, I'll help." Yugi gives a quizzical once-over of his friend's appearance, not sure how cutting wood could be that great.

"This isn't fair," Yami whines, sighing and throwing the children a helpless glance. Bakura pokes out his tongue as Ry pushes his chair our, standing up.

"Next time, dude," Bakura tells him, beckoning for Ryou to follow him outside.

"Like I'd want to help you anyway," Yami mumbles as they leave, with narrowed eyes.  
"Ateeeeeem," Rebecca complains, "Jake won't stop hogging the colors."

Yami gives Yugi an exasperated look before moving over to the table, settling the dispute between the children and giving them a talk on sharing. Yugi watches and listens, secretly amused, as he talks to them in serious tones, and they all look up at him with big eyes and craned necks. The older children ignore them, quietly finishing their homework.

Yami sits back down on Ryou's abandoned stool, turning so his back rests against the bench and he can see the kids. Yugi remains how he is, angled both towards Yami and the kitchen bench. Yami has a concerned look on his face, one Yugi's come to recognize.

"These kids," he says quietly, soft enough they won't overhear, "they don't have much. We try to get the parents to take them back, but you'll be surprised how many won't. They're scared or detached, trying to forget about the whole thing. And the parents that do take them back, that are actually thankful; they're back here in a week, begging us to tell them how to raise their kid. You don't realize how different we are until we're put in that kind of environment."

Yami shakes his head, wistfully, and Yugi chews on his fingernail. He's not sure what to say, having never been in the situation. He doesn't know what it's like to return only to be rejected.

"And it's hard to raise them all. I mean, we're almost like an orphanage, and Mai has a big heart but she doesn't have a hundred hands, and we don't have enough funding. The government throws money at us to keep us quiet, and to keep our program going, but we don't really exist." Yami just breathes, obviously having thought this over a lot.

"My parents hated me," Yami volunteers, coldly. "They were- they were religious fanatics, and when you're like that, and have a child who handles fire, the first assumption you make is that they're a demon." He laughs humorlessly.

Yugi stares hard at Yami. "They thought you were a _demon_?"

Yami sighs, shrugs as if subdued by now. "It was a long time ago."

"How old were you when S-CORP got you?"

"Nine. The priests told them all about me, and my family was only too happy to give me away." Yami bites his bottom lip compulsively.

Yugi keeps watching Yami's face, his darting eyes and biting teeth, dragging over his soft lip. Eventually he tilts his head to Yugi, and asks, "What?"

Yugi chews the inside of his cheek. "You confuse me."

Yami's brow deepens, and his lips part slightly. "How?"

Yugi rolls his shoulders, and rests his chin on his palm, continuing to pick at the bench with his other hand. "I never know how to read you."

"Maybe you're looking at the world too black and white."

"Maybe I'm just seeing color for the first time," Yugi tries, and smiles. He remembers walking out of the manor his first day, and seeing the tall, green trees, and hearing the melodious chirping of birds.

A spark comes to life in Yami's eyes. "Maybe." Then, "Eleven years is a long time."

Yugi just nods, wanting to change the subject. "What do you usually have for breakfast around here?"

Yami snaps his fingers. "Shit, sorry, I forgot you were asleep. Well, lunch is in another hour or so, but if you're really hungry, there's yogurt in the fridge, fruit over in the bowl, and you can make toast if you can find where the toaster's been hidden."

Yugi recognizes fruit, a dozen apples and half a dozen oranges filling up a blue, glazed bowl on the other end of the counter, with some bananas hanging over the edge, still green around the ends.

"What's yogurt?" Yugi asks.

Yami gaps at him for approximately two seconds before composing himself. "You've never had yogurt?"

Yugi shakes his head. "Our diet wasn't very flexible."

"Well, it's a cold food," Yami says, pushing back his chair, "so you'll probably like it." He opens the refrigerator, and reaches in, snapping off a small tub. He closes the door and jerks open a drawer, pulling out a spoon. "Here," he says, thrusting the white container at Yugi, "try it, see if you like it."

Yugi takes it warily, and peels back the top in an experimental fashion. He scoops some into his mouth, and makes a face. "Yuck."

"Yuck?" Yami repeats. "How do you not like yogurt?"

"It's really... bleh," Yugi pokes out his tongue at the strong taste. Yami laughs gently, pulling the tub towards himself and taking the spoon.

"Maybe you've had too many bland foods." Yami slurps a spoonful, licking the spoon clean. "I can't believe you've never had it before."

Yugi rests his chin on his hand again as Yami eats the vanilla yogurt. "So what happens to the people who don't live here?" Yugi asks, curiously.

Yami answers, staring into the bottom of the tub as he scrapes it, "Well, some try to go about their lives, and keep it a secret. I mean, you have to respect that, because who doesn't want to live a normal life? The others who choose not to stay here or start a new life, or help the CIA, they... well."

"Well?" Yugi looks skeptical.

"It's just, not everyone who happens to have gifts like ours wants to just sit back. Some want to show that they're... superior." He says it like it's a dirty word, even lowering his voice. "They're like villains in comic books, except with fewer monologues. There's a group of us that protect our secrecy and everyone's safety by making sure nothing happens."

Yugi's eyes widen. "People actually do that? The whole 'world domination' thing?"

"Yeah," Yami says, and shrugs. "Nothing corrupts quite like power."

He licks the yogurt from his lips; Yugi notices they match his skin tone nicely, and wonders if Yami knows. Yugi notices Yami, a lot, even in a room full of people. He notices Yami's presence and smile and touch. It's all very clouding.

"But don't worry," Yami says, misreading Yugi's silence, "they won't hurt you, or anything. They like to play with powerless people. The CIA has formed a whole squad against it, and the Kaiba brothers are even in there."

"Would you ever do it?" Yugi ventures, pressing his fingers into the bench. He's chewed his nails too far down, and the skin is red and puffy. "Be in that squad I mean, not..."

Yami shakes his head. "Too much risk and violence. I want to help, but madness is too much. I've had enough of that in my life."

"There's a lot I have to learn, huh?" Yugi asks, reluctant.

"Well, you've already been through a lot as well," Yami says, and smiles. "I doubt anyone's going to blame you if you're a little slow."

Yugi tastes blood on the inside of his cheek, and a small echo of a headache, as he says, "Thank you for being nice to me. I know it's not easy, as Bakura pointed out."

Yami refocuses. "Bakura talked to you?"

"Yeah," Yugi says, chuckling helplessly, "he reminded me to play nice. And he was right."

"He shouldn't have."

"Yes he should have," Yugi objects. "Without you, I'd still be back in some white room."

"Bakura was there as well."

"Yeah, but you were the one who made sure I was okay," Yugi confirms, smiling slightly.

"You know, we can set up some kind of therapy, if you and Ryou feel you need it," Yami says seriously. "Most of us go through it, it makes moving on easier."

Yugi chews on the skin around his nail. "I don't know."

"That's what Ryou said," Yami admits. "You know, he refused to leave your bedside for hours. Bakura had to bribe him with fishing to get him away from that room."

"We've been friends for a long time."

Yami nods. "I understand. So have Bakura and I. And I know you probably feel like everything has to be a joint decision, right now, but you'll learn that you're both very different people, and deal with things differently. So if you need to talk, you should."

Yugi feels the pressure of Yami's gaze, and evades it. "I'll think about it."

Yami looks back at all the children, smiling. "I should probably get a game out for them, or something. Most of the older ones have finished their homework."

"Do they go to school?"

"Yeah, but it's hard. We have to home school some of the rowdier ones with more prominent powers, but some are able to go by unnoticed. That makes it easier during the weekdays."

Yugi nods; he can see what Yami means. It would be hard to explain to a teacher why their student can warp solid ground or levitate in the air.

"Come on," Yami says, "we'll get them to play a game outside."

"Like what?" Yugi says, standing up; his legs ache as if he just ran a few miles instead of sitting down.

"Football, or something," Yami says, "You can just watch, if you want."

Yugi nods, and Yami smiles, fleetingly, at him.

* * *

"You seem to be making a good recovery," Tristan notes, placing gauze over Yugi's inner elbow. "Seems everything worked."

"How did you know?" Yugi questions. "How did you know what was wrong?"

"You're not the first one to face this kind of issue," Tristan tells him.

They're in the same room as before, this time without any needles.

"The mutations cause susceptibility to infections and diseases, causing a high death rate," Tristan continues.

"You expected this?"

"No," Tristan disagrees, slowly. "But it wasn't surprising."

Tristan sits down across from Yugi, and leans in. It's only the two of them, and Tristan's glasses catch the glare from the light bulb.

"We should talk about where you're going from here," Tristan tells him. "If you do want to start a new life, we can help you with that. We can get you the documents you need, and fund you part of the way. You can stay here if you want, to help or not to help. Consider this a safe haven, but remember that means all the newly rescued or ones that have nowhere else to go are here as well. Ryou's already chosen to stay, although you should think solely about your own future."

Yugi nods as he talks, and tugs on his hair; his hair is getting long, the black brushing down his neck and his front bangs starting to tickle his cheeks. "I'd like to stay here, for now."

"Okay," Tristan answers. "Once you get full mobility back, you'll have to continue rooming with Ryou, because that extra bedroom is needed for emergencies. Is that alright?"

Yugi smiles bleakly. "Ry and I are used to sharing small spaces."

"Of course," Tristan murmurs, tugging his hood down farther. "Well, I think we're about done here. Bakura can help you with anything if I'm not around. You might experience headaches, but any really painful ones should be reported, okay?" He looks stern, but Yugi just cocks an eyebrow.

"Sure."

When he leaves, Yugi looks back down at his arm. He can't see the marks because of the gauze, but when he had – in between Tristan taking off the dressings and humming and hawing over them – he'd been surprised. His arm looked more like a pincushion than before. For every pin mark there was one more, the scars like constellations. Some had already faded to white, and the older ones were no longer puffy or swollen or discolored, which was comforting.

Tristan had explained more about what different pains signified, and what exactly was injected into him. Yugi still can't fully grasp the significance of each chemical, but Tristan explained the desired effect. He also elaborated that the scientists were probably trying to see if they could use his power in a human with a normal body temperature, or whether they'd have to alter that as well. Most humans would die at the temperature Yugi's exists at.

Yugi wants to ask Tristan why he'd want to be an agent for a department like this. He wants to ask if the wonder of the supernatural is worth the pain and uncertainty, and if he ever worries about being merely human. He wonders who is really superior; with their high death rate and weak immune system, all for one extra ability.

* * *

Yugi wakes up in the middle of the night, feeling restless. He watches the shadows in the room, as they hover around the corners. He shifts to lay on his back, his muscles putting up a weary protest, and his mouth feels dry. The old manor is quiet at this time of night, with only the wind whispering and floorboards groaning quietly. He sits up, and waits for his eyes to adjust to the dark, before stepping off the bed.

The floorboards are blissfully cold against his feet, and he doesn't stumble as he makes his way out of the room, and down the hall. His fingers graze the walls, and he walks to the kitchen out of memory. He passes the backdoor, and pauses. The orange glow that caught his attention is situated in the middle of the yard, obscured partly by the large trees of the forest. He frowns, resting his hand over the door handle, looking from the clear glass back to the hallway. He decides, and pushes the handle down, walking outside.

The wind is surprisingly cool and strong, tossing his hair out of its usual place. He squints, and walks over the wet grass; the dew clings to his feet. He walks to the edge of the light, focusing on the glow in the distance. He steps over the threshold, into the darkness, with a deep breath and a determined mind. He continues slower now, testing the ground before resting his weight, mentally cursing every time a stick cuts into his foot.

The forest is further than he thought, and he starts to wonder if he should turn back. His curiosity wins out as his feet carry him forward, and the wind grazes his bare chest. The bottoms of his flannel pants are wet, sticking to his ankles as he gets closer to the trees that trap the glow, and he walks a little faster. He passes the first cluster of trees, with leaves crunching underfoot, and branches tapping his shoulders ominously.

When he stops before the large orb of orange, his breath leaves him all at once. Sitting upon the large, fire-eaten logs is Yami, his eyes closed peacefully and his legs crossed loosely. Flames lick and consume his whole body, as if nothing but air; not even his hair is disturbed.

He can feel the heat from where he stands, and sweat start to trickle down his cold skin. The cracking echoes off the trunks of the trees, and Yugi takes a step back, trying to get back from the heat but not out of the light. He watches in awe, as the wood burns and hisses, like an empire of chaos. Yami's naked apart from a pair of silver shorts perched on his hips. They don't seem to burn or disintegrate in the slightest, only glisten. The logs crumble, and Yami lowers a few inches abruptly; Yugi gasps in surprise. Yami's eyes open.

They stay locked, staring at each other wordlessly. Yami blinks, slowly, and the fire dissipates until he's just sitting on smouldering logs.

"You're out of bed," he comments.

"I saw the... you know."

Yami tilts his head. "Sorry. I didn't think it would disturb you."

Ignoring his apology, Yugi continues, "What is this?"

"Just basking in my element," Yami responds wryly. "I can usually only do it when the little ones are in bed."

Yugi nods, considering all the times he'd sit inside his ice walls to concentrate or clear his head.

"Is this why you collect wood?"

Yami nods. "It helps expel my energy."

"Doesn't anyone smell the smoke?"

"There's no-one around for miles. This is government owned land."

Yugi looks around the darkened forest, and the trees seem taller and gloomier, with twisted branches and rotten bark. Yami stands, his feet falling through a burnt out, hollow log, and embers and ash fly up into the air. He steps out, his ankles stained black, and runs a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all directions. His skin is a luminescent white, with deep color to his lips.

"You do this every night?" Yugi asks.

Yami shakes his head. "No, only when I'm feeling frustrated."

"What were you feeling frustrated about tonight?" Yugi asks, daringly, wondering if Yami would answer him at all.

"Lot of things. Nothing. I don't know."

Yugi wipes the sweat from the back of his neck as Yami steps closer, and all around Yami smells like wood smoke. A smear of ash over Yami's chest stands out against his skin, and Yugi tries not to look.

"Do I frustrate you?" The wind breathes around them, and Yugi squints against the gale of smoke, unsure whether his question was heard.

"Sometimes, not really," Yami answers, his lashes batting away the breeze. "I don't know."

Yugi cups his hands over his mouth, and breathes out icy water, ice particles clinging to the pads of his fingers before melting away. Yami radiates stronger heat, and Yugi can feel it more now that he's only standing a couple of feet away.

"You make me anxious, maybe, is the better way of saying it," Yami continues. "Because you call me confusing, and no-one's ever called me that before. I'm afraid of what you think. It's a new and different feeling."

"Confusing doesn't mean bad."

"It doesn't mean good either." He breathes out. "We're opposites in the most obvious ways. I like the heat, you like the cold."

"And yet we exist in the same climate; not so opposite," Yugi adds. Yugi makes a gesture over his own chest, before saying, "You have a bit of..."

Yami looks down, and absentmindedly wipes the smudge of ash off his toned chest. "I probably need a shower."

"I should go back to bed."

They stand, unmoving.

"Stay out here a while? With me?" Yami asks, red eyes blinking.

"Okay," Yugi agrees, shyly.


End file.
